Stone Junction

I LOVED this book. I bought it because one of my favorite authors, Thomas Pynchon, wrote the forward. I was not disappointed. The characters are all memorable. I loved the definition of the difference between an Outlaw and a Criminal. (In fact, I think most Americans are outlaws at heart and that's what makes us difference from the rest of the world.) I enjoyed the story and Daniel's journey. Without giving too much away, my only problem was that the ending was a little weak. Get this book! You will love it!

I love the book, and have read it a few times in print. Just got the kindle edition, which has an intro by Thomas Pynchon. It's a pointless piece of writing that had HUGE spoilers in it! What was the publisher thinking?! If you want to read Pynchon's take, wait til you've read the book.Also, the kindle edition has some annoying formatting issues. Fortunately, the book is so good you'll quickly see past these.

This novel explores the gamut of American experience. It's a thinking book that requires you to open your mind to possibility. This book's audience should include anyone who at times, feels either they dissapear, they wish they could, or have ever felt inivisible.

I bought this book because I have so much enjoyed Jim Dodge's first book, Fup. This a long book. I'm halfway through and have put it down, with bookmark inserted, in order to read other things. I rarely stop a book without finishing it, but it's easily done in this case. Whereas the characters in Mr. Dodge's first book were quirky misfits, they were believable. The misfits in Stone Junction have, for me, failed to ring true. There is no one that I feel is a real person, so it's hard to relate to anyone with sympathy or wonder or anything else. The characters are personas, in defiance of existing society. That's all well and good in a way, since I'm all for defying what American society has become, but if the counter forces are neither real or believable, then what?! A Bob Dylan line, "To live outside the law you must be honest!" seems to be a theme in this tale. But Dylan understood that people are very complicated. None of these characters are complicated, or conflicted, or--well--real. There's obviously a lot going on in Jim Dodge's head. He's worked long and hard on his second novel. So I feel bad setting it down with a disdainful sniff. Perhaps he'd do better to narrow his attention down to fewer characters--the larger picture, after all, is made up of small participants. But if those small parts lack debth and history, then the larger picture, so lacking in humanity, will prevail, unaffected.

I have to say a lot of my friends loved this book and when I finally got a copy, I was glad I didn't pay full price for it. Oh, Jim Dodge can write, but in this book he misses the mark. Daniel Pearse and the Alliance of Magicians and Outlaws goes way too far, not only strange but ridiculously unbelievable. Far too much fantasy even in a fantasy.

My favourite novel of all time

Stone Junction reads like a literary Frankenstein construct - equal parts Tom Robbins' whimsy, Umberto Eco's esotericism, and Ken Kesey's individualism/anarchism, yet it is all Jim Dodge's brilliance. If this witches brew makes you blanche in horror then avoid this book. If, however, like me, it whets your imagination and sets your mind to salivating, then by all means crack the covers and come dance at the monster's ball!Stone Junction will introduce you to the AMO - The Alliance of Magicians and Outlaws, or some say Alchemist Magicians and Outlaws, or perhaps Artists, Mythsingers, and Outriders. Whatever the acronym's meaning, it is made up of the most amazing collection of gentle grafters, charming grifters, clever forgers, high stakes gamblers, Zen safe crackers, mountain men drug dealers, forgers, alchemist, and magicians; anarchists all. Some reviewers have called these characters impossible. Improbable yes, but only impossible for those who lack experience and imagination. It is as fine a collection of heroes as one could wish for in this increasingly authoritarian age.The tale itself is a quest, coming of age story, and parable. Its comedy will make you cry; its tragedy will crack you up with laughter. It is an excellent mirror of life.Jim Dodge has reached the pinnacle of his writing powers in this his third novel. Fup, his first effort, is a charming but limited short parable. Not Fade Away, his second effort, presented an amazing journey without much of a destination. In Stone Junction, the journey Dodge imagines is incredible with an ending worthy of the story he creates.If you find this review excessive, I will wager diamonds to toilet paper that you will not enjoy the novel. If it intrigues you, assume that you are the intended audience, and acquire this book ASAP.Theo Logos

There are few more enjoyable pleasures in this world than being caught completely off-guard by a novel. I picked up STONE JUNCTION at a discount book sale, drawn in by the jacket, and the price. I began reading it with absolutely no preconceived notions as to its content, or worth.By the end of the story, I knew that this was my favorite novel of all time.It's the story of Daniel Pearce, an orphaned youngster who is brought under the guidance of some of the most off-kilter and bizarre people imaginable. While this may reek of HARRY POTTER, this is most assuredly a story for adults.STONE JUNCTION is about the world behind the world, the people we sledom get to know. It is a world of crime, and conspiracies, and greed, and love, and magic. That author Jim Dodge holds it all together is a fine feat in and of itself, but he does more than that; he makes the reader yearn for this life. Although (in my edition) he states emphatically that the novel is a work of fiction ("Believe otherwise at your peril"), Dodge's world is so well-defined that it's difficult not to wish it existed.The novel also has that one remaining aspect that so many novels, even the truly great ones, lack; it left me wanting more.

There’s a lot to be said for keeping ideas fresh and attempting not to go stale in novel writing and Jim Dodge’s fantastical voyage of discovery, one of only three novels by the author in a short career, is a fine example. Mixing an, at times, rootsy, folklore feel of a Mark Twain with the surreal idiosyncrasy of a Paul Auster or Thomas Pynchon (who provides the introduction to the 1997 Canongate edition), Stone Junction follows the kaleidoscopic tale of one Daniel Pearse, orphaned in dramatic circumstances whilst still a youth, and co-opted into AMO (Alliance of Magicians and Outlaws) – a loose grouping of misfits, mystics and magicians (or 'anarchist Robin Hoods’, if you like). Thereafter, Dodge takes us and Daniel on an episodic, but always highly engaging voyage of self- discovery, constantly wrong-footing us and maintaining a fine balance between reality and fantasy, during which Daniel becomes versed in safecracking, playing poker and becoming invisible, whilst still attempting to uncover the circumstances of his mother’s death. I am not usually one for novels with large doses of (integral) fantasy, but here Dodge provides such an intriguing set of characters, frequently getting inside their skins in a very empathetic and authentic way, that the novel’s other-worldly qualities seem to flow seamlessly, as the reader is swept up on Daniel’s rollercoaster ride.

I just don't get the rave reviews. I was intrigued by the concept, BORED by the book. I stuck with it, hoping for it to make sense eventually but I now resent the time I wasted dragging myself through every page. The main character is just irritating and the ending...meh.I bought this along with Dodge's 'Not Fade Away'. Equally turgid. Two books in search of a plot.Don't buy either of them. You can have my copies for the price of postage.

I think I should clarify what I mean by the title of this review. To my mind, a pot-boiler is a story where you always need to find out what's behind that door. Usually these are pretty poorly written and full of cliché; two dimensional characters, woeful prose, tonnes of "as if!" moments."Stone Junction" is different, primarily because of Dodge's masterful writing style. It's hard-boiled like a good noir, with that straight-forward, no-nonsense "American" style of writers like Kurt Vonnegut and Cormac McCarthy. In addition while the story is to a degree, far-fetched, you don't get that awkward jolt between realism and fantasy you can get with lesser novels - the "as ifs" are kept to a minimum and you find yourself being carried you along for the ride quite happily.Is it "proper" literature? Probably not - I don't think it has a particularly strong message or theme that you might get in "Great American Novels". But oh, if only all "trash" were this good - no really, this is what airport fiction *could and *should* be like. The existence of this book just emphasises that there really is literally no excuse for a book to be poorly written, "genre" or not. Grisham his ilk should hang their heads in shame next to Jim Dodge; it's just a pity he hasn't written much else.Superb

What a melting pot of craziness, crime, and general spiritual meanings of life. I must admit this book took me weeks to read but not because it was bad, just because I knew I could keep returning to it and picking up where I left off as if no time had passed. Kind of like an old friend. I'm not entirely sure what the whole book was really meant to convey about Daniel but what I took away will likely be extremely different to what YOU take away. Pick it up and give it a try. You'll be pleasantly surprised and immersed for the whole wild ride.

I’m not sure what the classification for this book is, Urban Fantasy? It is an amazing story, if you’ve enjoyed authors like Tim Powers, or the Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson’s Illuminatus trilogy this book is in that sort of genre,of today but, that kind of feel.